As New York’s private members‑club scene grows, Justin Gurland, founder of the newly opened Maze, is pitching an alternative to the city’s alcohol‑centric social life. It's an approach shaped by his own experience getting sober nearly two decades ago.
Gurland, 43, turned substance‑free at age 25. Eighteen years later, he’s betting there’s demand for a space designed specifically for people who don’t drink, whether by choice, by health or by circumstance.
Billed as New York’s first alcohol‑free members club, the 4,600‑square‑foot Maze opened in late October at 43 W. 24th St. in the Flatiron District, between Fifth and Sixth avenues. The location is near the iconic Flatiron Building, Madison Square Park and the trendy NoMad neighborhood — an area known for a dining and nightlife scene that often revolves around alcohol.
"This is going to be a movement that's going to start here in New York and extend to other cities," Gurland said in an interview. "The alcohol‑free lifestyle is still in its infancy, but it’s not a fad. It’s a movement. It’s becoming more accepted, less taboo … and people are more comfortable outing themselves or disclosing that they don't drink. For a long time it was secret, it was anonymous."
The Maze includes a full‑service restaurant in partnership with award-winning chef Tom Colicchio and team at Crafted Hospitality, along with a specialty coffee bar, lounges and a speakeasy‑style space also used for private dining and events. The club has about 200 active members, a number Gurland has said is intentional for the right atmosphere.
CoStar News spoke with Gurland about the idea behind The Maze and his vision for what comes next. The conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
You’ve spoken openly about your struggle with alcohol and drug addiction from age 13 before getting sober at 25 — an experience that later led you to earn a master’s degree in social work and help others in recovery. Why pivot now to open The Maze?
I had a deep passion for recovery and sobriety, and I also had a deep passion for community building. I was kind of burned out, because working with addiction can be really painful and exhausting. I started asking myself, 'How can I keep helping people, but without the tragic stuff, while still bringing people together?'
That tied directly into my personal recovery. When you’re getting sober at a young age, you’re always asking, 'What are we going to do tonight? Where are we going to hang out?' And there’s never really a place to go. So I started thinking, 'What if we just created that space?'
Along the way, I realized it’s not just sober people. There’s this whole group of people who don’t drink for other reasons. It started to feel like the need for something like The Maze was more necessary than ever.
How did you pick the name?
The name was really difficult for me to come up with. I wanted something that was meaningful to me personally, but I was also just waiting for it to come to me.
I was driving with my wife when the song 'Maze' by Phish came on, and I just pointed at the screen. She said, 'Done.' It instantly made sense.
Everyone knows what a maze is. It might have a negative context, but if you think about it in terms of a group mentality — if you’re in a maze, the group will help you get out. I thought it was a way to really unite people. It just felt so natural.
Why go with a membership-club model?
At first, I thought it would just be a high‑end coffee shop with Wi‑Fi, outlets and clean bathrooms. But I didn’t see how that would work financially.
We had people paid, signed up, ready to join, before our doors even opened. A membership model lets us curate the community and control the experience. We’re sensitive with how many people we let in because we want our members to always be able to get a reservation and feel like this place is theirs. We want it to be exclusive.
What does the membership look like so far, and how does your own recovery shape what The Maze is — and isn’t?
We’re about 50-50 men and women. Most members cluster in their late 30s and early 40s across a range of professions. About 45% are sober like me. Another 45% don’t drink for health or personal reasons. The remaining 10% are figuring it out.
I've learned through the process that it's not always black and white. Some people want to stop drinking but haven't had the opportunity to or they haven't met anybody else who doesn't drink. What we ask is that everybody inside our four walls is clean and sober. We're not Breathalyzing or drug testing at the door. There's an element of an honor system. What you do in your personal life, it's your journey.
Alcohol-free bars, meetups, spas, retreats and other social groups are growing. What sets The Maze apart?
There really aren’t alcohol‑free members‑only clubs — that’s our hook.
Clubs are popular right now. People want to feel like they belong somewhere. They want to be included. They want to be at a place that's theirs. They want to know that they can always get a reservation.
What do you ultimately want The Maze to become?
The next step would be opening in another city. Miami would make sense, so do Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco. I believe that every great party town has an equally great sober community. I don't see any reason why we can't replicate this in other cities.
College towns would also be a really cool place to explore for people that are getting clean and sober at a young age. Gen Z is drinking less, statistically. To have an opportunity for a college population to feel like they could still go out, meet people, date, have fun that doesn't revolve around alcohol would be a really cool thing to provide.